Curio

Curio (2024) C.S. Poe

Llewellyn and his aunt Julia run the Curio Cabinet

Sunday between noon and six o’clock was basically when Curio made any money at all—lockets with broken chains, weathered vintage postcards, vinyl records sans sleeves, and creepy doll heads missing one eye were the bad decisions locals made after one too many mimosas with the crew.

Llewellyn is fascinated by an occasional customer and wonders about his purchases.

Professor Bow Tie spent upward of thirty minutes during each visit meticulously digging through and studying loose antique family photographs, which number in the thousands, because Julia, in her words, “feels bad” leaving them behind knowing that they’ll be tossed in the garbage.

I liked Llewellyn and Julia and Henry. What I took issue with was Llewellyn’s reaction to the Big Misunderstanding; I didn’t understand why he refused to talk to Henry. Honestly, the story would have been stronger for me without the Big Misunderstanding, as it would have kept Llewellyn from coming across as a complete asshole.

This is a boinking story, however, I was easily able to skip the boinking bits.

Characters: Llewellyn Cooper, Aunt Julia, Henry McLaughlin

Cover Art by Reese Dante

Publisher: Emporium Press

Rating: 6/10

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